Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday (October 16, 2024) his plan to win his countryâs fight against Russiaâs invasion could bring peace next year, but it contains a step that some crucial Western allies have so far refused to countenance: inviting Ukraine to join NATO before the war ends.
âIf we start moving according to this victory plan now, it may be possible to end the war no later than next year,â Mr. Zelenskyy told his countryâs Parliament.
He has recently been trying to win approval for the plan from Western partners, who so far have stopped short of publicly voicing their support for it.
The first point in Mr. Zelenskyyâs five-point plan that was presented in a speech to the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraineâs Parliament, is perhaps the most ambitious and the most likely to make Western allies balk: letting Ukraine into NATO while the fighting continues.
Mr. Zelenskyy said granting Ukraine membership in the alliance would be a âtestament of (alliesâ) determinationâ to support Ukraine.
It may, however, be too ambitious a step.
NATOâs collective security guarantee â Article 5 of the military allianceâs treaty â is the pillar on which its credibility is based. It is a political commitment by all member countries to come to the aid of any member whose sovereignty or territory might be under attack.
NATO makes its decisions by consensus, and many allies â including the United States and Germany â refuse to allow Ukraine in while fighting continues because they fear being dragged into a wider war with Russia.
At their summit in Washington in July, NATOâs 32 members declared Ukraine on an âirreversibleâ path to membership in the Western military alliance. Any decision on offering to start membership talks is probably not likely before the next summit in the Netherlands in June.
Ukraineâs troops are having trouble holding back Russiaâs military might, especially in the eastern Donetsk region where they are gradually being pushed backward. Though Russiaâs gains have been incremental, its steady forward movement is slowly adding up and Ukraine keenly feels the need for more large-scale Western help.
But there are signs that Western support may be waning, diminished by a focus on the Middle East wars and domestic political concerns. The U.S. elections next month could bring a major shift in Ukraine’s fortunes, as Washington has been the biggest provider of military aid.
Mr. Zelenskyy publicly acknowledged for the first time that in private talks with Ukraine its Western partners are increasingly talking about ânegotiationsâ with Russia and much less frequently use the word âjusticeâ in conversations about the war.
He also dialled up the stakes in Ukraine, repeating his recent claims that North Korea is now sending military personnel to help Russiaâs war effort, as well as delivering ammunition, and that Iran and China are also aiding Moscow.
Mr. Zelenskyyâs âvictory planâ contains confidential sections which he didnât mention in Parliament, officials said.
Other aspects of the plan include continued striking of targets on Russian soil, including the incursion into Russiaâs Kursk border region that began in August and more long-range drone strikes on Russian infrastructure.
Ukraine, he said, also needs more air defence systems and access to a broader range of intelligence from allies.
Mr. Zelenskyy noted that Ukraine is rich in natural resources, including critically important metals âworth trillions of U.S. dollars,â such as uranium, titanium, lithium, graphite and others.
Those Ukrainian assets, as well as the countryâs agricultural production, are among Russiaâs key targets in the war, he said, but could be shared in post-war times with partners. Also in a post-war period, battle-hardened Ukrainian troops would be an asset for NATO efforts to keep Russia at bay.
Published – October 16, 2024 05:44 pm IST